Fuel feeding device for internal combustion engines



1940. H. A. MYER$ I 2,201,448

FUEL FEEDING DEVICE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Sept. 7, 19s? 1V VEN TOR Patented May 21, 1940 2,201,448

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FUEL. FEEDING DEVICE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Harry Alfred Myers, Dayton, Ohio, assignor of one-third to William A. Armstrong and onethird to'David T. Barton, both of Dayton, Ohio Application September 7, 1937, Serial No. 162,719 I 3 Claims. (01. 261-115) with gas from the volatile liquid, so as to provide t ty f as s add d t t a s as t obtain t 20 a fuel charge for an internal combustion engine. p p mixture- It Could probably tte be Other objects. and advantages reside. in the sta d t at as s sup d t the engine, hi h construction of parts, the combination thereof s s ad thereto a Suflicient quantity of and the mode of operation, as will become more air o insure P p Combustionapparent from the following description. The Preferred embodiment includes a In the drawing, source of fuel supply, (b) a mechanism for gen- Fig. 1 shows a schematic vi of th b dicrating gas from volatile liquid fuel and (c) ment showing the fuel tank in diagrammatic means for Supplying the l Charge to the e perspective. gine.

Fig. 2 discloses a detail cross sectional view of Source f f l supply a valve taken substantially on the line 2-2 of The liquid fuel is found in a suitable tank '0 I provided with suitable baflles I2. In the pre- 31S another d l cross h l 116W ferred embodiment the liquid fuel tank lll is of a valve taken substantially on the line 3-3 cylindricaL Any suitable shape may be used f The liquid level is below the top of the tank, so 35' 4 1s a fragmentary sectmna'l as to leave a space above the liquid for the gas, of the outlet and intake plug in the bottom of as will appear more f ll lawn The Supply of the fuel P' u gasoline or other volatile fuel may be replenished 5 1s fragmentary 'cross q h from time to time through a suitable opening of the atomizer located above the liquid fuel in inthe top f the tank normally closed s cap 0." the gas StPmge COmPartment- 16, which will be more fully described later.

Fig. 6 discloses a fragmentary cross sectlonal view of the check valve mechanism located on Mechanism fo generating gas fromvolatzle one end of the fuel tank and opening into the liquid fuel st ra compartment at d a ve th liquid The volatile liquid fuel is generated into gas. 45- fuel levelr This may be accomplished in various ways. Air

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary cross sectional view may be forced through or drawn through the ta Substantially 011 l of 80 as volatile liquid fuel. The Volatile liquid fuel may to show the fuel tank and the bafiies therein in be agitated or the volatile liquid f l may be Sectlonsprayed or atomized, so as to cause the greater This invention relates to carburetors and more particularly to carburetors for use in supplying fuel to internal combustion engines.

An object of this invention is to generate a gas from a volatile liquid and utilize the generated gas intermixed with air as a fuel charge. into a gas before being intermixed with the air 5 Another object of this invention is to maintain the mileage obtained per gallon of gasoline in a supply of gas that has been generated from a conventional automobiles is greatly, increased. highly volatile liquid, which supply of gas is The only explanation that can be given for this I available for intermixture with a suitable quangreat increase in mileage is the complete gasi-, 3 tity of air as a fuel charge to be supplied to the fication of the liquid before being intermixed internal combustion engine. with the air and before entering the cylinder. Another object of this invention is to draw air By a complete gasification a perfect mixture may through a series of chambers, each chamber conbe obtained, that is, a mixture without any mist taining a highly volatile liquid, the air being y l q being Suspe ded in t a e The forced into the liquid so as to have added thereto gases to provide a fuel charge.

Another object of this invention is toforce air through a volatile liquid, the air being supplied 'Figsa2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 have been drawn to a larger scale than has Fig. 1.

In the past, internal combustion engines of the gasoline type,. or the like, generally have utilized a Carburetor. wherein. the liquid is gasified and intermixed with the air on its way to the cylinder. This has been and is the standard practice in practically all gasoline engines used in automobiles and trucks.

Ithas been found that by converting the liquid air is drawn through the gas chamber, thereby insuring a sufiicient quantity of gas being intermixed with the air. By drawing the air through the vessel containing the gas, a sufficient quanportion of it to gasify, particles that are not gasified precipitating or settling and returning to the liquid. In the preferred embodiment the liquid is pumped by the engine from the tank and returned through a jet above the liquid level,

which jet is broken so as to cause the fuel to be atomized and thereby gasified. The mechanism for accomplishing this will now be described in detail.

The liquid fuel is withdrawn from the tank Ill through a plug 20 in the bottom of the tank, where it is drawn through a pipe 22, through a pump 24 actuated by the engine 26 and returned through a pipe 28, connected to the plug 20, having a second orifice 30 connected to a pipe 32 terminating at 34, as best seen in Fig. 4, so as to impinge a jet of liquid fuel against member 36, which may be a wire arranged in hookshaped relation and supported upon member 38 carried by the upper end of the pipe 32. Member 36 causes the jet of volatile liquid to be splashed outwardly, radially in all directions, thereby causing the liquid, or a greater portion thereof, to gasify. Any liquid that is not gasified will gradually drop into the liquid. Whenever the engine is operating, the pump 24 will continue to convert liquid fuel into gas. This gas above the liquid level in the tank H] is available for use as a fuel by the engine by merely adding W air to the gas.

Means for supplying the fuel charge to the engine In attempting to supply a gas fuel to internal combustion engines, difiiculty has been experienced in getting a sufficient fuel charge into the combustion chamber. In the preferred embodiment this has been overcome by causing the suc tion of the engine to draw gas having intermixed therewith a sufiicient quantity of air so as to supply the necessary oxygen to insure complete combustion. This has been accomplished by the mechanism which will now be described.

The cap I 6 located adjacent one end of the fuel tank I0 is provided with a check valve biased .into closed position by a spring 40 engaging a nut 42 threadedly engaging a stem 44 passing through the cap l6 and engaging the diapln'agm 46. The top portion of the cap I6 is provided with suitable openings 56. The other end of the tank Ill is connected through a suitable pipe 60 to a valve 62 opening into a tubular member 64 of a manifold 65 of the engine 26. The throttle valve 62 houses an adjustably mounted butterfly valve 68 that may be adjusted from open to closed position and vice versa, to control the amount of fuel supplied to the engine, adjusting the speed of the motor.

Operation thereby The device for converting the liquid into gas maintains the supply of gas above thefliquid level in the tank I0. the suction of the engine causes the check valve in the cap IE to admit air into the gas above the liquid level in the tank l0, so as to produce not shown. The amount of air may be adjusted by adjusting the nut 42 on the check valve; 7

In addition to the air that is drawn in through the check valve in the cap 16, air may be supplied through a vent 10 in member 62. The amount of air supplied through the vent Hi :may be adjusted by the screw 72.

The vacuum created by.

The vent H1. is located below the butterfly valve 68, so that the 1 fuel mixture is not altered by throttling the engine.

The storage space for the gas located above the liquid fuel level is divided into several compartments by bafiles 12. In the particular modification shown, the liquid is atomized in the center compartment. In this compartment globules or small drops of liquid fuel may be suspended in air and the gaseous fuel. The fuel in i this compartment may be referred to as being in a wet stage. Fresh air is drawn into the compartment shown to the extreme right of Fig. 1. In this compartment the gases above the fuel may consist primarily of oxygen and nitrogen with very little gaseous fuel added thereto. When the engine is in operation, air is drawn in through the check valve through the center compartment, where it is mixed with gaseous fuels and where the dry air tends to evaporate some of the globules before advancing into the compartment shown to the extreme left of Fig. 1. By the time the fuel and theair intermixed therewith enters this third compartment the globules are all vaporized, or practically so. The globules that may have been carried over from the middle compartment will rapidly evaporate in the third compartment, so that the fuel charge supplied to the engine is completely vaporized. This complete vaporization is expedited by the use of the baffles, so that the several compartments contain fuels and gases in various stages and forms of mixtures.

Although the preferred modification of the device has been described, it will be understood that within the purview of this invention various changes may be made in the form, details, proportion and arrangement of parts which generally stated consist in a device capable of carrying out the objects set forth, in the novel parts, combination of parts and mode of operation, as disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A fuel supply system for internal combustion engines utilizing volatile fuels gasifiable at ordinary atmospheric temperatures, said system including a tank having liquid fuel in the bottom thereof providing gaseous fuel storage means above the level of the fuel, means for gasifying the liquid fuel, said means including pump mechanism actuated by the engine withdrawing liquid fuel from the tank and returning the fuel to the tank in the form of a spray so as to atomize the liquid fuel, said spray being formed above the liquid level in the tank, said tank having an opening above the level of the liquid fuel, a check valve mounted in the opening permitting air to be drawn into the gaseous fuel storage means but retaining the gaseous fuel therein, said tank having an. outlet above the level of the liquid fuel, means for connecting the outlet to the combustion compartment of the engine, and means disposed between the combustion compartment and the gaseous fuel supply for throttling the engine, the vacuum created in the combustion compartment causing the air to be drawn into the gaseous fuel storage means where it is mixed with volatile gases and drawn into the combustion compartment for ignition.

2. A carburetor system including a fuel tank divided by bafiles into a plurality of compartments, the fuel. tank simulating a. conventional gasoline tank on automobiles, the lower portion of which contains the gasoline supply, atomizing mechanism including an outlet pipe connected to the bottom of the tank, a pump and a discharge device connected to the outlet of the pump and terminating in a jet above the level. of the,

gasoline in the fuel tank for atomizing the gasoline forced through the jet by the pump, an intake check valve above the gasoline level for drawing air into the gasified gasoline stored above the level of the gasoline, and an outlet from the top of the tank.

3. A carburetor system including a fuel tank divided by baffles into a plurality of compartments, the fuel tank simulating a conventional gasoline tank on automobiles, the lower portion of which contains the gasoline supply, atomizing mechanism including a plug located in the bottom of the fuel tank, said plug being provided with passages, a pump having the intake connected to one of said passages and the outlet to another of said passages, 21. pipe extending within the tank from said other passage and terminating above the level of the gasoline supply, means associated with the end of the pipe for atomizing the gasoline forced by the pump through said pipe so as to produce gasified fuel above the liquid level in the fuel tank, means for admitting air into the fuel tank, and means for Withdrawing gasified fuel intermixed with air from the gas tank above the level of the gasoline.

HARRY ALFRED MYERS. 

